Estate Planning, Trust and Probate

Wegman, Hessler & Vanderburg has a long history of assisting individuals and families with their personal legal needs. Our clients have worked hard and invested carefully to provide financial security for their family and other beneficiaries. We consider it a privilege to help our clients manage and dispose of their assets in accordance with their wishes. We understand that the accumulation of wealth is only part of the story—how that wealth will be transferred to heirs, charities or other beneficiaries is also critical. Our attorneys are skilled at providing legal services relating to wills, trusts, estate planning, probate and individual taxes. Attorneys in the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate group appear regularly before the various county probate courts on guardianship matters for minors and incompetents and on trust and estate administration matters. Because our firm provides a broad range of legal services to family owned or otherwise closely held businesses, we are intimately familiar with the estate planning issues that business owners face and are prepared to provide creative strategic thinking and planning to assist our clients.

Given the complexity of issues which our individual and family clients face, we have attorneys with a broad range of expertise that are able to assist our clients with such matters as:

• Planning for the appropriate disposition of wealth to meet family goals and minimize taxes.
• Succession planning for family owned or closely held businesses.
• Tax advice regarding retirement savings and distributions.
• Completion of designation of beneficiary forms for IRAs and qualified and non-qualified retirement plans.
• Administering IRAs.
• Guidance in the areas of fiduciary responsibilities and prohibited practices.
• Allocation of contributions among Roths IRAs, regular IRAs, 401(k) plans and other qualified retirement plans, annuities and insurance products.

All of our services are coordinated with the services provided by a client’s financial planners and other professionals so that all plans are integrated and strategically devised to optimize tax benefits and meet our client’s expectations. In furtherance of our goal to provide the highest level of client services, we have invested heavily in technology, including the development of propriety software programs to assist in estate and guardianship administration, tax analysis and tax preparation. Our firm regularly provides advice on the current status of tax laws and how they impact existing or contemplated estate plans and methods to minimize taxes upon the transfer of assets at death or by gift.

Members of the Wegman, Hessler & Vanderburg Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Group:

David R. Button
Donna M. Dresp
John D. Kedzior, Chair
Stephanie E. Lankhorst

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